


Finding Ava

by frankenjoly



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Background Rhysha and Mozara, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Not Canon Compliant, Self-Indulgent, Tags May Change, There's a bunch of characters more yeah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29783688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankenjoly/pseuds/frankenjoly
Summary: A while ago, there was a thingy on Tumblr about getting suggestions of fics you'd write and rating how likely it'd actually be. I got the plot of Finding Nemo but with Maya, Ava and Krieg... and it sounded so fun I wanted to try sooo... here it is.I'm totally indulging myself with this? Yeah. There's rp references? Also yeah.
Relationships: Ava & Maya (Borderlands), Krieg/Maya (Borderlands)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 12





	Finding Ava

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There comes the start! 
> 
> I'm not sure about how much I'm gonna expand Athenas' lore here (mostly bcs my ideas are still on the works) but the "mostly inhabitated" and "Maya went back to protect the order" from early bl3 promo stuff are bullshit and don't make sense with Maya's backstory from bl2, so I'm getting my hands on it. Same goes to the fact that most characters seem to... not have talked in 5 fucking years, like... you guys have ECHOs? Right? Use them!

Normally, it was Ava who sneaked into her room late at night, but some nights were different.

Well, the whole thing was different, because Maya didn’t actually have to sneak in her apprentice’s room, and sure wouldn't have tried to hide if the girl happened to wake up. Plus, she had a good reason to be there, and was checking on her, as the siren had become used to when she heard signs of nightmares from her own room next door. Ava, on the other hand, just entered to get a peek at her siren book, as if she wasn’t willing to share its contents with her. Maya was just setting the pace she found more adequate.

Speaking about which, now it was Ava’s turn to mention Nyriad in her dreams, now looking way more calmed than when Maya had shown up in the room as she heard screams and cries for help.

Maya herself used to have nightmares like those, and most of the nights she woke up alone, unbothered but with no one to comfort her… or with Sophis trying to, but getting quite condescending when doing so. They had become more frequent when she had started to question Sophis motives, and didn’t start going away till a lot of nights passed, already on Pandora and with the whole group sleeping close by. Not to mention that, back in Athenas, bad dreams had acquired a habit of visiting some nights, likely as a result (or reflection) of her feelings towards coming back.

To sum up, she knew what Ava was going through, and heavily suspected it was linked to her dealing with her family’s loss, but couldn’t be completely sure till she asked, and didn’t want to press on the matter. Sure it could be difficult for her to talk about and wouldn’t appreciate what could seem like intruding, or maybe she would just mention it when ready… who knew.

By then, Maya was satisfied with simply getting closer to Ava’s bed, tucking her better with the blanket as her movements while asleep had moved it, and going back to her room after softly taking a strand of hair off the girl’s cheek.

When she met Ava, she had made a promise. To herself, to the memory of all the sirens that came before herself, and to Ava (though not explicitly in that last case). She had promised to take care of her, to watch over and guide her till the moment she was ready to go on her own at minimum.

And she intended to keep it, no matter the cost.

* * *

Fucking corporatives. Fucking Maliwan. And fucking captain Traunt. But most importantly, fucking snitch who had told about the Key fragment. When she found out who had been, between the list of suspects halfway done, mercy was off the table.

She had indeed _been merciful_ when coming back, giving them a chance instead of wiping all the monks off, reasoning her background was not everyone's fault… but one them, at least, had betrayed her trust and put not only the abbey but maybe the whole Athenas at risk.

Maliwan forces were at their door one day after the other, and she prayed the rest of the planet was in a better situation, even when praying wasn’t exactly her thing. They were focused on getting to the Anchorhold, yes, but Maya wouldn’t discard them trying to fuck up things around Athenas to make her go there and leave the abbey undefended. She did try and warned whoever she could, trusting they would pass the word so everyone focused on keeping safe.

But as far as it hadn’t gone, she barely had gone outside apart from that, and it was mostly checking the perimeter or sneaking for supplies so none of the attackers knew she was gone. And it was important, because the monks refused to do anything, which left her alone to keep their invaders in line with only her teenage apprentice as aid. Stupid non-violence vow, because of course they remembered the fucking vow when it came to not defending their home, but not when a part of their group raised and manipulated her since the cradle to do the dirty work they wanted done.

Anyway, if they weren't going to do anything useful when it came to contain the invasion, they could not interfere with her attempts to do so and stay the fuck inside the walls of the abbey, something that wasn't a big deal for some of them, and a source of complaints to others.

“... And he asked me to tell you that he's not happy with all of this.” Ava was telling her, almost on the verge of laughter.

“Well, I'm not happy about having to deal with corporate troops trying to enter here by force, but sometimes life isn't how we'd like it to be.”

“They’re not gonna get to the Anchorhold, don’t worry. We’ll kick their asses way long before that.”

“Ava, I…” Maya paused, trying to find the right words. “I have my doubts we can manage just by ourselves. Serious doubts, ‘cause damn, we’re two against a whole fucking army.” Her apprentice stared, and was about to say something when she gave the news. “That’s why I asked for reinforcements.”

“Didn’t you say that…?” Maya instantly shook her head.

“Not to Athenians. To the Crimson Raiders.”

“Oh, really?” Even when they were facing a big problem, the girl couldn’t help but smile. “So I can finally meet them?”

“Well, I wish it was in different circumstances, but yeah. We’ll have plenty of time to catch up with them once this is over.” She hoped, at least.

“Cool!”

“Just one thing.” Maya stared at her, and continued in a pretty serious tone. “One important remark. No trying to directly attack Maliwan anymore till they get here. Not unless it’s strictly necessary.”

“But..!”

“But what?”

“What if they get what they want before the Raiders arrive?”

Maya sighed, though would be lying if she said she didn’t expect that conversation to go exactly like that.

“If they get too close, I am the one trying something to stop them. I. You’re staying in, safe.”

“What? No!”

“There’s no negotiation with this, Ava. I am the teacher and you’re the apprentice, remember? Trust my judgement.” She was tempted to say ‘for once’, given Ava’s reckless nature, but decided to bite her tongue. Or try at least. “Plus, someone has to keep an eye on the monks so no one decides to snitch again.”

“So I get to spend time with those weirdos while you go kick asses?”

“This is not what I want, or would choose in a better scenario, but…”

“Oh, c’mon!” The girl half begged, half complained. “I can manage in a fight as good as you.”

“No. You still have a lot to learn, and you won’t if something happens to you. Wanna be a Vault hunter in the future? A siren? Then make sure you have said future.”

Ava didn’t respond, but it was crystal clear how she didn’t like either the idea or the words she was hearing right then. Actually, she was about to respond, when the sound of the bells distracted them both.

“Oh, fuck.”

Practically praying that Ava listened and stayed in, Maya grabbed her guns and rushed to the entrance, where captain Traunt himself was waiting, and of course he didn’t seem friendly.

“C’mon, just give what the boss wants, and no one has to get harmed!” As Maya raised her eyebrows in disbelief, he seemed to rethink it. “Actually yes, I wanna show my brother what I can do. See…”

“Not a chance.” The siren knew she was in no great position to get defiant or cocky, but also refused to let Maliwan win. In her experience, corporates searching for Vault keys wasn’t a good thing, and they would have to rip the Athenas fragment from her cold dead body. A statement she didn’t intend to express out loud, as it sounded almost like an invitation given her position.

Maya stared directly at him, making eye contact as she tried to keep aware of their surroundings with her peripheral vision. She knew the place better than him, but Traunt had troops on his side, so… There wasn’t so much she could do, unless taking out their leader made the Maliwan soldiers rethink the idea of facing a siren.

Even if it was just one siren with no back-up, unless it miraculously came at the best moment.

“Yeah, not a chance!”

“What?”

That last word escaped from both Maya and the corporate captain’s mouth, as Ava jumped to her side, pistol in hand.

“What did I tell you?” Maya scolded, in the lowest voice she could manage. The last thing they needed was Traunt hearing the oncoming argument.

“To stay inside the abbey.” Was Ava’s response, trying to be casual.

“And what didn’t you do?”

“Stay inside the abbey.”

“So.” Maya’s gaze was still fixed on Traunt, and her frown was deepening. “Care to explain what you are doing here?”

“Wasn’t gonna miss all the fun.” She added, in a light tone, to not so later go for a more serious one. “Plus, you said it yourself when this whole thing started, there’s just the two of us doing something! At least till those friends of yours get here, and don’t think it’s gonna be in a matter of seconds so…”

“So what? I know that, okay? That’s why I told you to stay in! You’re not safe here, and things aren’t getting any better. What if something happens to you?”

“Something could happen to _you_ too, and you don’t seem half as worried. Don’t you want help with those bitches?”

“Yes, I do. That’s why I contacted the Raiders.” And for the record, Maya thought, she was indeed worried about the possible outcomes and her own safety. But that was her duty, she had chosen so. And wasn’t going to drag Ava to it if things got nasty. “You’re not ready yet.”

“And when I’m gonna be if you don’t let me do anything even remotely risky?!!”

Ava was no dumb, and thoughtfully replied to Maya as lowly as she had started talking, even if frustration was starting to show. But still, their invader was starting to get a grip on it anyway.

“Problems with the kid?” Asked, in a clearly mocking way.

“Shut up!” Was both Ava and Maya’s response, both in unison.

“You shut up!” It sounded a bit childish, so if they weren’t currently outnumbered, maybe they would have laughed. “Mostly you, kid. The grown-ups are talking, see?”

Both of them rolled their eyes, and Maya gave her apprentice a side glance, guessing what could happen.

“Don’t listen to that piece of sh--”

Too late.

Ava had already rushed to get to Traunt and managed to half jump, half climb to his shoulders, in a brave but in the end pointless attempt to take his gun. If they managed to get out of there, she had already decided Ava was getting both praise for her skill and a lecture on her refusal to listen. If.

“What do we have here?”

“PUT ME DOWN!”

Traunt had started to snicker, as they both struggled, one to get the gun and the other to take the kid off him. 

Meanwhile, Maya also struggled, to choose her best course of action and to do so quickly. Her options were very limited, taking into account both her resources and the scene happening in front of her. The easiest and fastest way was either shooting or using her powers, but unless Ava could make some distance between the Maliwan captain and her, which she didn’t seem keen on doing… the possible results weren’t very promising. Plus, in the time she was wasting on trying to come up with something, anything bad could happen… and it did, as no longer after that, Traunt managed to grab Ava with one hand, keeping his gun under precarious equilibrium under his other hand.

“Guys!” Even masked, his full-of-himself smile was more than evident. “Look what I got! A siren youngling!” Maya stared directly at him, in both surprise and rising anger, and made herself a question Traunt himself conveniently answered right after that. “Or… at least that’s what a little bird told me.”

Fucking snitch. Because there was no doubt it had been the same person, or few, who had told Maliwan about the ruins, the Vault key and the stars knew what more. She mentally cursed them, swearing to strike them with consequences once identified. And she cursed herself too, because part of it was her own fault. If she had been more ruthless with the monks, or hadn’t mentioned her reasons for bringing Ava in… the rest of Athenas’ secrets were already in the order’s hands, but that one had been between just Maya and her apprentice for a while… and it could have been kept as such, too.

Maya didn’t wait more, or bothered to come up with a plan. There was no time. Instead, she let the anger fuel her, letting her tattoos start to come alit.

“Leave. Her. Now.”

And so, se casted her phaselock, directed to take Traunt’s gun off his hand, and charged against him. Ava also took her chance, freeing herself and putting all her effort in running.

Though she didn’t make it too far, as the girl found herself surrounded by soldiers aiming their guns at her. One made a signal to their boss, who was focused on trying to stop the siren’s attacks, and he almost beamed in delight.

“Maybe you wanna stop, or you can say goodbye to the kid.”

She directed a murderous gaze in his direction, but knowing how was running out of options, Maya did indeed stop. Future siren or not, Ava’s safety was still her main priority, and obviously expected their invader to exploit it. So she wasn’t very surprised to hear the words that came from his mouth when Traunt spoke again.

“Now, you’re gonna take us to that little key our boss wants, or else...”

“Pfft, that boss of yours must have gotten it wrong, or maybe you did.” Ava suddenly said, making all heads turn to her. “Plus, I’m way more valuable than a dumb key.”

The confidence she said it all with made Traunt laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, ‘cause…”

“Oh, c’mon, you said that yourself! I’m gonna be a siren, remember?” She then pointed to Maya. “Or you think she would take a random kid in?”

“You’re bluffing.”

“ _Bluffing or not…_ ” A voice came from Traunt’s ECHO, most likely that boss he had mentioned, and the reason they all were there. “ _The kid can be useful, don’t let her go._ ”

“No!” The word came out of Maya’s mouth almost instantly. “She doesn’t know all the stuff I know, or has anything to do with this. Let her leave.”

“ _See? With the right motivation, the blue siren here can get us what we want. What I want. All it takes it’s the right motivation._ ”

Maya was considering telling him where he and the whole corporation could fit that motivation in, when a sudden beep on her own ECHO interrupted her train of thought, but she didn’t reach to check it. It was definitely not the moment. And yet, she took a few seconds to pray that it was a message from Lilith telling her they were arriving. Even when she wasn’t a fan of praying under normal circumstances.

“ _You know what we came here for, miss, don’t try to pass as a fool. Give it to captain Traunt, and the kid doesn’t have to be harmed. As simple as that._ ”

“Don’t do that, Maya! Bet they’re all bark and no bite!”

“ _You have two hours. And the girl is going to be secured in one of your ships. Just in case any of you two try something._ ”

The siren stared at the captain, then at her apprentice, then at the totality of Maliwan forces, and repeated it for a few times as she thought about what she should do. But, honestly? The choice was not easy, but obvious.

“I’ll be back, kid. Hold on.”

And with that, she activated her powers once more, covering herself in the phaselock sphere to both boost her out of there and give herself a protection that, she had discovered back in Pandora, couldn’t work as a source of shelter instead of harm for more than a couple of minutes unless it was Maya herself inside the ‘bubble’. There was no time to lose.

* * *

“We’ve just gotten to Athenas.” Lilith announced, in a serious tone that perfectly fitted and described the situation. Not only they had stayed in contact as much as she could, but Maya and her had been talking long when her friend had requested help, so the commander knew quite well how things were going down on her friend’s origin planet. “We need time to land and get into position, so you four are going first.”

Amara, Zane, Moze and Fl4k instantly nodded.

“Find Maya, and please help her out kicking those Maliwan troops’ asses. Once they’re not a problem anymore, we can talk about the Vault key fragment and…” She was about to continue, but stopped to check an incoming call. Making a gesture towards the Vault hunters to stay and listen, she put it on the bridge’s speakers.

“ _Lil? Just saw your message._ ” Judging by the sound of her voice, Maya seemed to be running as she spoke. “ _Glad you’re here, ‘cause we’re getting royally screwed right now._ ”

“I’m sending a team to back you up while the rest of us get ready, and they’re about to go there, so if you have any instructions, just shoot. Are you alright?”

“ _I am, but if I don’t give them the key fragment, the kid won’t, so… I’m on my way to retrieve it._ ”

“Are you going to just give it to them?” Blurted Amara, earning a few glares from her teammates, which she just shrugged off. Lilith hadn’t told them not to talk. And it didn’t surprise Maya either, who had assumed said team members could be right there.

“ _Unless you can take her out of the ship she’s in less than two hours, yeah, I’m going to. They can play me for a sucker, I know, but it’s not like I have too many options besides letting them take her. And that’s. Not. Happening._ ”

“Then you’re going to get her.” Lilith looked briefly at the four, and they all responded with brief okays and nods. “Aaand I’m also sending one of our not-so-new recruits down there in advance to give you a hand.”

“ _Who am I reuniting with, you say?_ ”

“That’s a surprise.”

“ _Appreciate it Lil, but don’t think that’s the best moment for surprises._ ”

“Oh, but you’re gonna like this one, killer. Trust me.”

* * *

“Sure this is the one?” Moze whispered, as they group entered a suspiciously almost empty ship, voicing what they were all thinking.

“It’s the last one, so unless they lied to Maya, it should be.” Added Amara, tattoos glowing as all her six extra arms flailed beside her, holding the guards they had encountered and closing their mouths. Getting rid of them was a possibility, but one the group wasn’t taking till it was sure they weren’t going to be discovered.

“If we’re lucky, we’ll be outta here with the lass in no time.” Was Zane’s response, to which Fl4k nodded.

Hopefully, the operative was right, and it could be an easy task. But as they went deeper into the ship, a bad presentiment started to fall over the four Vault hunters’ heads. Either Maliwan didn’t bother to put tons of security for a single girl, or they should expect an ambush at any minute.

The guards they had captured, mostly because of fear, didn’t put up too much resistance when asked for directions, and at least they seemed to be telling the truth, as after a while of walking they could hear the struggles and curses of a kid.

“Greeeat, they had to put an electronic lock, holy shit. I could already be out, but nooo!” Arms extended outside her cell’s bars, Ava was incessantly tapping the buttons with the numbers that, if she managed to get the right combination, could open the door. “Shit, if you’re putting damn bars instead of, dunno, a shielding wall, at least go full vintage and put a classic lock. It’d make my life waaay easier.”

The Vault hunters entering the scene caught her mid-grunt, stopping what she was doing to look at the group, curious.

“Wow, you’re pretty cool!” Came almost instantly out of her mouth, without even thinking. Not like the girl had any regrets about it. “No damn idea about who you are, but none of you four look like Maliwan so… Mind giving me a hand with this?”

“Ava, right?” Asked Zane, and she answered with an energetic nod.

“You know me?” After a few seconds, the answer came to her. “Are you from the Raiders, I guess?”

“New recruits, yeah.” Moze added, as Amara turned to the guards she was still holding, asking them for the keys. When they shook their heads in a negative response, the siren moved again to face the other, shrugging.

“We’re doing this old style.”

“You may want to move to the side, away from the lock. The furthest corner, actually.” Was Fl4k’s piece of wisdom, which Ava followed shortly before they went straight to business, aiming at the lock with their rifle and leaving it completely corroded with just a shot. “Done. Just get out and we all can go to…”

They were about to mention Maya, but a sudden noise and movement throughout the ship interrupted not only the robot’s words, but also whatever the rest were going to add after it. But not for so long, as worried voices started to rise shortly after it.

“What’s going on?”

“Did we get caught?”

“Seems most likely. This may wasn’t as empty as we thought.”

“No shit! Guys, any ideas?”

“Just one! Hold on!”

As the ship lifted off, and to avoid damage as none of them was in a good position (unlike the crew, who were probably well adjusted in their seats, belts fastened), all of them hurried to latch on whatever was close. Ava jumped to grab the cell bars from the inside, and so did Fl4k from the outside, holding their weight with one hand and making an effort to keep their animal companions close with the other. Amara stopped closing the guard’s mouths with the extra arms, even if she was still holding them, to use one to hold herself too. Zane quickly grabbed another, and as Moze was already putting her arms around the siren’s waist, the last one moved to help Fl4k with their pets.

The whole group remained like that for a while, moving up and glancing at one of the ship’s windows, where they could distinguish a couple of figures gesturing at them and making futile attempts to get closer. Ava didn’t recognize one of the two, nothing that surprised her as they were getting further and further. But the other one unmistakably had Maya’s blue.

“NO!” 

They both screamed, even when none of them could hear each other from that distance.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first /long/ fic, so I really hope that 1) it turns out well and 2) y'all like it. Also there's a lot of characters I'm writing first time or just for drabbles, and I'm not exactly the best with 'em but... she's trying, I'm she.


End file.
